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Intel targets gamers with sixth-gen 'Skylake' CPU launch
With mobile annihilating the mainstream PC industry, Intel knows gaming is buttering its bread. The chip giant launched its sixth-generation "Skylake" desktop processors today with two enthusiast quad-core models: the Core i7-6700K and i5-6600K. The 14-nanometer chips are unlocked for maximum overclocking (all the "K" series CPUs will be), and if you're not into that, the two new chips have fairly high base frequencies: 4.0GHz for the Core i7-6700K and 3.5GHz for the i5-6600K. Compared to similar current-gen models, prices are reasonable -- suggested retail is $350 for the i7-6700K and $243 for the i5-6600K, with street prices likely lower.
Panasonic launches $500 Lumix DMC-LF1 enthusiast compact with WiFi, NFC
Panasonic's just unveiled the 12-megapixel Lumix DMC-LF1 compact for fans of high-end compacts like Canon's S110 who may not want to snap with a smartphone camera. But the social set will still be able to share images to their handset or tablet thanks to the LF1's built-in WiFi with NFC pairing and included app. Meanwhile, most cellphones definitely can't compete with the 1/1.7-inch, 12-megapixel CMOS sensor and 28-200mm equivalent f2.0-5.9 Leica zoom lens. Other specs include 1,920/60i video with AVCHD and MP4 recording, POWER OIS, a 200K EVF, a variety of shooting modes like panorama, and full manual control. There's no set arrival date, but it'll run a hefty $500 or so -- perhaps a hard sell against certain photo-clever handsets.
Custom PC desk / case combo ditches glass, metal for wood
Desk case PC mods have lit up our radar before, but a modder by the name of Pirate -- who's no stranger to us -- has dropped the typical glass and metal enclosure for medium-density fiberboard. Though the material choice was an effort to avoid buying a new desk, it created a need for a robust cooling system. Five fans (three exhaust, two intake), a radiator and a liquid-cooling system keep the rig at roughly 88 F (31 C) with ambient temperatures hovering around 79 F (26 C). As for horsepower, the workstation features a Core-i5-2500k processor and a Radeon HD 7950 graphics card sporting a water cooling block on an Asus Gene IV microATX motherboard. Visuals are piped to three displays in an Eyefinity configuration that are held by a modded ergonomic stand. Pictures of the build process in excruciating detail await you at the source. Update: Ben Willock commented to let us know that it's sporting a Core-i5-2500k processor, not a Core-i5-2000k. We've updated the post.
EVGA's GeForce GTX 680 Classified tempts overclockers with watery siren call
Judging by a sneak Computex preview, EVGA's intentions for the upcoming GTX 680 Classified graphics card are not a thorny mystery. With an optional water-cooling block and voltage control inputs, there's plenty here to seduce the hardcore modder. The company isn't talking numbers just yet, but if terms like "14-phase power design" whet your appetite, then you're in luck. In any case, like its other Classified mates, it's apt to be the company's top GeForce GTX 680 performer. So, if you're plugging in the pumps and hoses for that next mod, you might want to leave a slot -- or four -- open for this one.
Rare Commodore KIM-1 hits eBay, shows you the PET's barebones roots
Most of us think of Commodore's pre-C64 computing history in terms of the still-legendary PET-2001, but an eBay auction run by Lawrence Bezuska shows just how far back the tradition really goes. He's selling a KIM-1, the stripped-down hobbyist computer from Chuck Peddle that was the foundation for what the PET became. It's so old that it was originally made by MOS Technologies in 1976 -- Commodore bought the company and kept making the KIM-1 until 1981. Inside, you're still looking at a 6502 chip, although you get just 1.12Kb of RAM and lose more than a few things that even DIY enthusiasts take for granted today, such as a power supply. There's no way you'll play Doom on it, then, but the winning bidder does get the luxury of a keypad just inches away from bare circuitry. If you're quick enough to make the May 17th auction deadline and miss the days of very, very low-level programming, be sure to check the source link.
Bit-tech's Mod of the Year contest underway: finally, something you're comfortable voting on
Like ponies to little girls, we always have a soft spot for mods here at Engadget. Who could forget Angel OD's liquid-cooled Wii, for example? Or Peter Brands' Frankendesk of a PC, the L3p D3sk? Well, it seems like we're not the only ones whose fancies got tickled by these things, as both made the list of nominees for bit-tech's Mod of the Year 2011 competition. The contest is serving up its biggest field to date with 25 projects. Entries include a PC that doubles as a mini Warhammer Dreadnought and another computer encased in a Star Trek Intrepid Mark II Class starship replica. If your tastes lean more toward the older than old school kind, Jeffrey Stephenson's got one of his wooden mods included in the bunch, as well. Naturally, you can check out the rest of the entries (and cast your votes) at the source below. [Thanks, Antony]
AMD FX processor brings eight cores to battle, we go eyes-on (video)
AMD fans have endured a long wait for this, while being reduced to spectators as Intel spews out an ever-increasing horde of Sandy Bridge variants and builds up the hype around its next-gen Ivy Bridge architecture. But the new FX series of processors is finally here and will be available to buy in the next few days, with the top-end FX-8150 priced at $245 in exchange for eight cores, a 3.6GHz base clock speed and easy over-clocking to 4.8GHz using the packaged Overdrive software. Your AM3+ motherboard is crying out for the upgrade, but don't succumb until you've clicked past the break -- we've got details of the full range and pricing, our initial impressions and an eyes-on video that includes a detailed chat with the guys from AMD.
Will Intel's Core i7 Sandy Bridge E CPUs ship without fans or heatsinks?
Over the past few months, we've peeked Intel's roadmap more than once, but all told we've been treated to scant few details about its high-end desktop line, Sandy Bridge E (that's "E" for enthusiasts). Today, though, VR-Zone is reporting that the next generation of these CPUs will ship without fans or heatsinks -- a tacit acknowledgment, perhaps, that Intel's home-brewed cooling system will be inadequate in the eyes of hobbyists anyway. We reached out to Intel for comment, and while the company stayed mum on the topic of cooling, it did go out of its way to clarify another point the folks at VR-Zone made in their report. The outlet had said that the forthcoming 3820, 3930K and 3960X CPUs will be rated at 130 watts, but will consume closer to 180W and draw up to 23 amps from the 12V2 supply rail -- all without overclocking, mind you. An Intel rep writes: "TDP expectations for the 2nd Generation Intel Core i7 processor family for socket LGA-2011 are in line with previous generations of high end desktop products." In other words, built-in cooling system or no, the TDP should be in line with what we've seen from other Extreme-branded processors. As for the cooling, it's unclear when, exactly, we'll get the full spill -- the CPUs are rumored to launch before the end of the year, with the quad-core 3820 arriving after the six-core 3930K and 3960X.
Spy satellites become reluctant space celebs, get their own paparazzi
Not only do American military satellites have to put up with the constant threat of ultrasonic space droppings, now they must also suffer the prying lenses of a couple of Frenchmen. Thierry Legault and Emmanuel Rietsch have spent the past two years turning consumer-grade components into a system that can keep up with the zippy and supposedly secret movements of craft like the X-37B space plane and the NROL-49 low-Earth orbit spy sat. Hit the source link and you'll see videos of the International Space Station, which they also managed to capture with steady-ish focus as it hurtled through space-time. Looks like nothing will thwart these guys, except maybe nano-satellites.
AMD resurrects its 'FX' brand for speed freaks, lexicon lovers
We saw AMD's old "FX" moniker repeated on a leaked price sheet recently, but we couldn't be sure of its significance. Now AMD has confirmed that it is indeed bringing back the FX brand to denote hardware aimed at gamers and graphics enthusiasts. In keeping with its penchant for complicated taxonomy, the chipmaker will use the resurrected badge not on individual products, but rather on desktop platforms that combine top-of-the-range components -- including the forthcoming Scorpius platform that will consist of a 9-series chipset, HD 6000 Series discrete graphics and an unlocked eight-core Zambezi CPU. This is all part of AMD's efforts to square up to Intel and present itself as the PC gamers' choice, and to that end the company also revealed it is partnering with more games developers to encourage use of its HD3D, Eyefinity and Dual Graphics technologies. Full PR (excessive nomenclature and all) is after the break.
Dutchman integrates a 4.5GHz water-cooled rig into his d3sk
Cooler Master's 2011 Case Mod Competition looks to be the gift that keeps on giving. After serving up a Tron lightcycle and an architectural marvel, it's now playing host to a mod that redefines the idea of an all-in-one PC. Peter from the Netherlands has managed to fit a pretty bombastic set of components -- 4.5GHz Core i7-980X, two ASUS GeForce GTX 580 graphics cards in SLI, over 12TB of storage with an SSD boot disk, and two PSUs providing 1,500W of power in total -- together with a water-cooling setup and the inevitable glowing lights inside one enclosure, which just so happens to also serve as his desk. The three-piece monitor setup is also a custom arrangement, with a 27-inch U2711 IPS panel being flanked by two 17-inchers. Admittedly, this isn't the first water-cooled and over-powered desk we've laid eyes on, but that shouldn't prevent you from giving the links below a bash and checking out the amazingly neat design of Peter's l3p d3sk.
NVIDIA's dual-GPU GeForce GTX 590 emerges, can't slay the Radeon HD 6990 titan
1,024 total CUDA cores, 94 ROPs, and 3GB of GDDR5 RAM on board. Yup, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 is indeed a pair of GTX 580 chips spliced together, however power constraints have meant that each of those chips is running at a tamer pace that their single-card variant. The core clock speed is down to 607MHz, shaders are only doing 1.2GHz, and the memory clocks in at 3.4GHz. Still, there's a ton of grunt under that oversized shroud and reviewers have put it to the test against AMD's incumbent single-card performance leader, the Radeon HD 6990. Just like the GTX 590, it sports a pair of AMD's finest GPUs and costs a wallet-eviscerating $699. Alas, after much benchmarking, testing, and staring at extremely beautiful graphics, the conclusion was that AMD retains its title. But only just. And, as Tech Report points out, the GTX 590 has a remarkably quiet cooler for a heavy duty pixel pusher of its kind. Dive into the reviews below to learn more, or check the new card out on video after the break. Read - AnandTech Read - HardOCP Read - Tech Report Read - PC Perspective Read - Guru 3D Read - X-bit labs Read - Hot Hardware Read - techPowerUp! Read - TechSpot
NVIDIA's next flagship graphics card to be unveiled at 9AM on Thursday, bring your own popcorn
In NVIDIA's own words, this Thursday will bring us the company's "next generation, highest performance graphics card." If that has you thinking GeForce GTX 590, you're not alone. The dual-GPU solution was expected to arrive at the PAX East get-together this month but seemed to shyly dodge the limelight, though now there's no escaping its date with destiny. Just make sure to be up nice and early tomorrow, say around 9AM US Eastern Time, for the inevitable barrage of reviews. An unsatisfyingly brief teaser video, featuring Crysis 2 slyly running in the background, can be found after the break. Update: Whoa, Nelly! Looks like it may end up being the GeForce GTX 590, as evidenced by these leaked images here. [Thanks, Abdulmalik]
Visualized: NVIDIA's dual-Fermi card that never was
PAX East 2011, which kicks off tomorrow, is widely expected to finally deliver a dual-GPU solution from NVIDIA's Fermi family of graphics chips, a PCI Express-saturating single-card workhorse to be known as the GTX 590. While we wait for its arrival, however, here's a sentimental look back upon 2010 and another little prototype that NVIDIA had kicking around its labs back then. Emerging over in a Chinese forum, this dual-GPU board features two GF104 chips (the same that made the GTX 460 such a winner) and a snow white PCB paintjob that makes it look utterly irresistible. We're loving the four DVI outputs and, just like you, have no idea why this card never came out, but that shouldn't obstruct the enjoyment of looking at the darn thing. More pics after the break.
AMD launches Radeon HD 6990 powerhouse for $699, maintains 'world's fastest' title
If you're scoring at home, NVIDIA currently holds the lead in single-GPU graphics cards with its GeForce GTX 580, but ATI's dual-chip Radeon HD 5970 has been holding down the absolute speed crown for a good long while. Now, bearing the name of AMD Radeon HD 6990, its successor sidles up to the throne and demands attention as the fastest single expansion board you can plug into your shiny new motherboard. The 6990 boasts a massive 4GB of GDDR5, 3,072 Stream Processors, 64 ROPs, and an 830MHz core clock speed. A dual-BIOS switch will let you crank that clock up to 880MHz with a corresponding increase in voltage, but don't expect to see much overclocking headroom above that. Reviewers note, alongside their fawning assessment of the world's best performance, that the HD 6990 is a massively power-hungry card (375W TDP) and one that makes quite a bit of noise while going through its herculean tasks. That's in spite of a new vapor chamber cooling system that allegedly supports up to 450W of thermal output. If all this strikes you as a somewhat flawed execution, maybe you'll join us in hoping NVIDIA's imminently upcoming response, dubbed the GTX 590, will be able to offer a neater, more efficient assault on the extreme peaks of graphical performance. Read - HardOCP Read - AnandTech Read - Tech Report Read - PC Perspective Read - techPowerUp! Read - Hot Hardware Read - Hexus
Intel Core i7-990X reviewed: best performance ever, but far from best value
As T-Pain once so wisely proclaimed, "it ain't hardcore unless it's hexacore." Intel should have no worries with its Core i7-990X, which has enough processing units to satisfy even the most demanding of hip hop moguls, but it pads out its extreme credentials anyway with an audacious 3.46GHz default speed. That can be Turbo Boosted to 3.73GHz (yes, we are talking about a CPU that can run at 3,730MHz right out of the box) and there's 12MB of L3 cache and three channels for DDR3 memory to justify the $999 price tag. Well, to partially justify it, anyhow. Tech Report and Tom's Hardware both ran this new chip through their benchmarking suites and both concluded it's the fastest consumer processor around, but neither was willing to recommend it as a terribly astute purchase decision. Then again, when has an Extreme Edition of anything ever been a good value proposition?
Radeon HD 6990 pictured, GeForce GTX 590 rumored for PAX East 2011 reveal
Multiple cores are old hat, particularly in the GPU world where you can have hundreds of simultaneous processing units working in concert, but multiple GPUs on the same PCB, that's still exciting territory (not least because of the crazy thermal and power requirements that go with it). AMD and NVIDIA are set to clash horns on this field of battle once again, fishing for mindshare as much as they are for high premium sales, with the Radeon HD 6990 and GeForce GTX 590, respectively. The former has already slipped out of the shadows of mystery to reveal a size slightly longer than an A4 sheet of paper, while the latter is being rumored for an unveiling at the PAX East 2011 gamer gathering. Expected GTX 590 specs include 1,024 total CUDA cores, 3GB of onboard RAM with dual 384-bit memory controllers, and three DVI outputs for some single-card 3D Vision Surround gaming. This year's PAX East is kicking off on March 11th and AMD is also looking very close to launching its part, so you should need no more than a couple of weeks' worth of patience before everything about the latest and greatest from both camps is known.
MSI reveals mad Sandy Bridge motherboard with eight PCIe slots, eight USB 3.0 ports, and three BIOS chips
Straighten up and salute the Big Bang Marshal, MSI's attempt at redefining the term "overkill." This XL-ATX board packs a total of eight PCI Express lanes (though it only has the bandwidth to simultaneously feed four x16s or eight x8s -- relevant if you're crazy enough to think about using more than four GPUs), three separate BIOS chips, extra 8-pin and 6-pin 12V power intakes, and a thoroughly excessive set of power regulation components. The less extremely minded among you will appreciate having a full array of eight USB 3.0 ports on the back, though we can't get over the measly four DIMM slots on offer. Word is that features might change before the Marshal goes to market in the first quarter of next year, so let's hope more room for your RAM sticks is among the tweaks between now and then.
AMD Radeon HD 6970 and HD 6950 launch assault on enthusiast gaming market
It's taken AMD a long time to refresh the top end of its graphics hardware, but today's culmination to that wait has to be described as somewhat bittersweet. Sweet, because we're finally getting a successor to the venerable HD 5870, one that offers improved power management and tessellation performance at a lower $369 price point, but also bitter because in terms of sheer firepower, the Radeon series doesn't seem to have made quite the leap many of us had hoped for. The new top of AMD's single-GPU pile, the HD 6970, offers 1,536 stream processors, an 880MHz core clock speed, and 2GB of GDDR5 RAM running at 5.5GHz for a total of 176GBps of memory bandwidth. Its partner in crime, the HD 6950, is expected to list at $299, for which saving you'll have to sacrifice some clock speed (down to 800MHz) and processing units (1,408 in total). There's a neat little addition to both new boards: a Dual-BIOS switch that will act like Google's hardware jailbreak toggle on the Cr-48, allowing tweakers to unlock the extra (unprotected by warranty!) performance headroom in their cards. Early reviews all seem to agree that both the Radeon HD 6970 and HD 6950 have struck a very fine price-to-performance ratio. The 6970 manages to spar with the much pricier GTX 580, but given that it's priced similarly to NVIDIA's GTX 570, it scores plaudits for being a more than viable alternative. The HD 6950 is seen as the real value item here, however, particularly since it occupies a relatively unique spot in the price range, and most reviewers tipped it as their new bang-for-the-buck leader. Read - HardOCP Read - AnandTech Read - Tech Report Read - Guru3D Read - PC Perspective Read - Hot Hardware Read - techPowerUp! Read - Hexus Read - TechSpot
NZXT Phantom proves there's still life in chunky desktop towers
Did the recent reappearance of the Phantom console spark a tiny bit of nostalgia in you? If so, you'll be happy to hear that NZXT has picked up the moniker for its latest full tower chassis, and it's a fittingly futuristic-looking beast of burden. The angular steel enclosure provides tool-free access to five 5.25-inch drive bays plus the room to fit in 7 HDDs, 7 fans (up to a mammoth 230mm size), and a dual radiator within its walls. A top-mounted mesh window is accessorized with a slightly more useful array of USB, E-SATA and audio ports, while the innards are specifically designed to accommodate the bulkier graphics cards and CPU coolers out there. Sounds like a winner to us, and the $139.99 price seems about right for a flagship product that aims to tick all the boxes -- see the Phantom on video after the break and expect it to arrive, in all its glorious hues, this September.
